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Kae Burke: Co-Founder of House Of Yes on building inclusive culture.
Manage episode 348622807 series 1268303
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Kae Burke is the Co-Founder of House Of Yes in Bushwick, Brooklyn. As well as the Creative Director of Yes Etc Creative Agency. HOY was recently named the #2 Best Thing To Do in the World by Time Out New York. The venue is internationally celebrated for fostering self-expression and nurturing emerging artists of all genres. Their events lead the way for developing safer spaces and consent culture.
On the show Kae talks about going to fashion school with Anya Sapozhnikova and how they created HOY. Kae also speaks about how the House Of Yes fosters an inclusive culture and how costumes and self-expression go hand-in-hand. As well as how the pandemic has changed the party landscape and we delve into the ways people have started to be more mindful of their consumption. Her new Creative Agency is called Yes Etc and we talk about what it was like to open an experiential agency during a pandemic and where she finds inspiration.
Transcript
Yulia Laricheva 00:06
Hey friends, welcome to another episode of dream nation love. I'm your host, Yulia. And I want to remind you to subscribe to my newsletter on Dream Nation Love on the Instagram page. So just go there and hit the link in the bio and find it. It has a lot of awesome little giveaways every month, like books and fun little information about women diversity and social impact that you are going to love. So please share it with a friend. Today on the show I interview the amazing Kay Burke, who is one of the co founders of House of Yes, along with Anya suborning COVID. But today on the show, I only speak with k has to be so super fun. If you haven't been to one of their events, then you're missing out. They have global events now. So you definitely have to go. Now, I bet you didn't know but how's to be us originally started out as a creative events face and also a circus Theatre in Williamsburg. And I've been in Williamsburg for over 16 years. And I do remember them opening up. So talk about like throwing a good party, right. K is also the creative director of Yes, etc. Creative. And on this podcast, we talk about how K designs inclusive experiences, how the pandemic has changed party culture, and what a person who throws parties for a living does for fun. You know, I was really, really curious. And he told me all about it. So enjoy the podcast and share it with a friend. Have a great day. Okay, welcome to the show. It is so exciting to have you here. Because we've been meaning to make this happen for a while. And you are here in front of me.
Kae Burke 01:44
Well, thank you. Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Yulia Laricheva 01:48
Thanks. I really enjoy the work that you do at the House Of Yes. And I really miss going to the House Of Yes, because I am a mom now. So I don't really have any more fun. So I live vicariously through people's posts.
Kae Burke 02:00
We have a lot of I have to say we have a lot of moms with moms and dads anxieties. There's totally a culture for party moms.
Yulia Laricheva 02:09
As yes, no, there is. But it's like right now she's like, almost 15 months with you have a sleep schedule. And it's a routine. I need a babysitter and all that stuff. But I digress. Back to the house of Yes. Which is doing so much stuff. And that's what I really wanted to talk to you about it. And I wanted to take it way back and and see how early this idea started. Or if it even started. It's such a small age. But when you were a kid, you probably had a dream. What was your dream as a kid?
Kae Burke 02:38
I don't remember. I feel like I wanted to be a dolphin, a mermaid, a unicorn, a dog. I got to those dreams got to come true. Because as a performance artist, dancer, professional, performance weirdo. I got I've definitely dressed up and performed as all those things. And now I also get to have other people dress up and perform as any kind of creature of imagination that they wish. So I think my dreams as a kid ended up coming true. Now that that you mentioned it.
Yulia Laricheva 03:15
I love that. Well, you went to art school. Right? You started this with Anya. Yes. And so you both started it. And you started this out of art school too, as I recall. And then I read a little bit about how agree right? Like you were like, doing all these things you were like, doing still on he was doing still it's all those different work. But what was the exact moment that has to be asked came to fruition that you're like, we must do this. This is going to be a business, right?
Kae Burke 03:40
Oh, yeah.
Yulia Laricheva 03:40
What was the transition from art kid to business person.
Kae Burke 03:44
I mean, that took it really took years. And it's interesting about the creative process itself and the creative process of House of Yes is it was quite organic. It was not a decision unnecessarily. It's a series of choices, that ended up creating a reality, and organically growing and evolving into what it is now. But it wasn't oh my god, we're gonna do this. And here's the business plan. And here's the strategy, not so clear, not so clear cut. It came from, you know, of course me and Anya meeting in high school in Rochester making art together. And sometimes that was music. Sometimes it was scavenger hunts. Sometimes it was sewing. And the sewing actually really sparked a lot of joy and expression and took us into fashion school. So we both ended up going to fit in New York City. And we were young. We moved here at 18. So in addition to going to fashion school, we were also making weird costumes out of trash and going to dance parties, you know, making friends it was we only really knew each other in New York. We didn't have a huge community whatsoever. So it was really going to these dance parties and dressing up like maniac weirdos that started connecting us to these different scenes and serve roles within the city. So once that starts to evolve, we just ended up playing with these different mediums, sculpture and installation grew out of that. Doing more performance art, stilt walking grew out of our costume design and wanting to just be extravagant creatures of the night. And so participating in these parties is what really sparked a lot of choices and therefore opportunities that self propelled into really needing more space when you're creating on such a multifaceted multi dimensional multi genre level. You know, we're making more than just costumes or you know, really started to need more space and especially in New York being a very expensive city even in Brooklyn even what is this I'm talking about? It was still we didn't really come from money broke broke as artists and it was always if you wanted space to create it typically meant you would be in a live work situation. A live work loft because just the way that the city and the real estate works a lot of times those places were illegal.
Yulia Laricheva 06:10
Rubulad I think was a bunch of artists paying their rent through by throwing parties every month in the giant loft.
Kae Burke 06:16
Yeah and Rubulad was some of the first parties me and Anya on your went to that really sparked our community building. Even before we went to Burning Man, you know, on people can sense a Burning Man DNA within House Of Yes, like, yeah, there's Burning Man. But there's also realized and rebuild came from predecessors before that, that were inspired by, you know, spaces in maybe the 60s, 70s, and 80s You know, so there's a there's really like a lineage and legacy to New York underground party culture, performance art culture, and really celebration spaces so it sounds like an honor to still be representing that and hopefully inspiring people for the future who come maybe House Of Yes is their first weird party zone and they make some other expression of their own space. Basically the first House Of Yes. Anya was offered this loft from a friend of ours will attendee who threw parties but danger parties in warehouses back before Bushwick was yeah and of course they were like illegal warehouse raves but really artfully done and really cool. So yeah, this launch became available like on you sign the lease gutted it decorated it and that was the first House Of Yes, I moved in a couple months later and we just we just wrapped it with make art and have some parties do some circus tricks. Have some sewing parties it was rad.
Yulia Laricheva 06:16
Yeah cuz you do aerial right? You still do aerial or you partake in it.
Kae Burke 07:33
You know, I really I used to perform a lot Anya is still performing aerial one of the best aerialists, I'd say in the world and amazing doubles aerialist and yeah, I love aerial for the strength, the confidence the workout, the muscle tone, took me a while to understand from performing aerial for quite a long time. I'm just like, damn, I'm more of a clown. I'm a character actor. I'm a clown. I just, that's my happy zone. And I love working out in aerial, it's always really stressed me out to perform it. So I really like I love to grunt I love to grunt and sweat and climb and feel of your muscles. I absolutely adore that. But when it comes down to being in the spotlight, I'm much more comfortable and expressive on a microphone, or making a total fool of myself is definitely more my joy space.
Yulia Laricheva 08:29
Yeah, I'm used to I started going to Brooklyn, I think in ‘99/98, ‘99. And then I moved to New York in 2004. But I remember there was a space where the Apple Store is now and they had this huge area loft, and they had kung fu in there for a while. But they were teaching aerial classes for a while. So anytime anybody was doing aerial, he just popped in there. And it was like such a cool off. But now everything is Equinox and Apple and it's just it's not the creative space where it was before it just morphed over time.
Kae Burke 08:59
Yeah.
Yulia Laricheva 08:59
My thing is the House Of Yes, was very inclusive. And it's interesting how the culture has changed. And obviously, you've added to that club culture changing. And I was going to ask you, what is your recipe for fostering that inclusive temple of self-expression?
Kae Burke 09:14
How's the House Of Yes is intrinsically inclusive, because our creative culture has been inclusive art and collaboration has been inclusive. That was a part of our we were inclusive before it was intentional before it was a cultural buzzword. And it's actually been a very interesting cultural challenge to maintain the inclusivity while protecting and curating the vibe. There have been times when we've experienced like, wow, there's way too many bros way too many type, a type of person that isn't really tuned in or aligned with some of our values or some of our ways that we dictate that a good time is what we set out to be and so we've had to adjust one point we end up doing costumes mandatory. It's not mandatory any longer. But for while we're like, oh, if we want our parties to be the vibe that we are putting out there that are our highest self, this template expression that we set out to be, then our favorite parties are the ones where everybody's wearing costumes. So they know who hates wearing costumes is angry, insecure, homophobic, transphobic, there's something about wearing costumes that feels like too feminine for certain kind of person, especially especially a male identified person. So that became a good idea for a little bit. And then eventually, that became too exclusive because it wasn't accessible, like wearing a costume to a party is sometimes not accessible to certain people. And it actually wasn't being as as inclusive as we intended. So it has been, I would say, it's been an experiment. And it's the journey that we are still on the path of just getting walking the line between inclusivity and creative curation of the audience.
Yulia Laricheva 10:56
For a while you had like a costume rental car outside too, that if you didn't have a costume, you could rent it, which was so fabulous, because sometimes you're like, you just want to mix up your costume to if you're going yeah, if you can afford it. That's another question of who can afford to dress up? And that's a bigger discussion.
Kae Burke 11:11
Yeah, yeah, it was pretty cheap to like our standards, but different people have different different standards of what they find affordable, too. So we've got to be aware of that.
Yulia Laricheva 11:19
And it's so important to have a space where like women, and LGBTQ people can just feel safe. Yeah, like where you can just really be safe. We go, I'm not I'm gonna actually have a good time tonight. It's not going to be crazy.
Kae Burke 11:19
Yeah, we can do it. Of course, we're dealing with human beings who are unpredictable, and so many levels. So the best we can ever do is create a space that is safer. And as safe as possible. There's, we always say that there's really no such thing as a safe space. Unfortunately, this wild world of chaos and, and all possibilities being possible. It's like, we can at least make it as safe as possible.
Yulia Laricheva 11:54
That's interesting. You talked about costumes, do you think costumes make people like, open up and be their true selves, or like they put on personas with it, I just thought of that. I was like, like, what makes people friendlier when they put on costumes like it just like customs just improve everything.
Kae Burke 12:11
It really does. Different people, even myself, you can have a different, different experience, even in the same costume. So let's say one night really is like a full persona and it influences how you act behave or experienced your night. And then other nights, you might just feel like hot and it feels more like you. It depends on what journey you choose to take with that particular look. I just love, I love people dressing up because it's really them expressing themselves. And I feel like a different persona or an alter ego and a different look. And a different costume is an expression of the self. The self has many ways of expressing, like our ego, or our personality that we've assigned to ourselves is not it's not as clear cut as being one flavor, or one one behavior.
Yulia Laricheva 12:55
Totally. And I was gonna ask you like how has the pandemic changed the party landscape in NYC and globally? I see the house of yes is doing parties and a lot of different places like Aspen and stuff. But how has the pandemic changed the party landscape has been interesting, I feel people have a deeper appreciation for parties and party people.
Kae Burke 13:14
People are definitely more self-aware, I've experienced, there's this interesting thing where people are, to my knowledge really consuming last, like less substances are necessary. A lot of people really have to check themselves before they wreck themselves when depends on it. And they're like, oh my god, like what are these habits and substances and coping mechanisms that we've almost not been aware of until the party stopped? You know, like, oh, wow, like whether substance use continued? Well, even without the rave, a lot of people are being much kinder to their bodies much kinder to themselves, but just practicing a lot more wellness has come into the conversation. A lot of people have cut down their alcohol, of course, people are still drinking and there's lines of the bars and people still like alcohol, I can just speak to speak to more. My friend group and myself included, I've cut back a lot compared to what I was consuming and doing in 2019. Oh my goodness. How can I keep up with that? That's crazy. And so I've just yeah, I've just observed a lot of people being partying and celebrating in a more mindful way.
Yulia Laricheva 14:18
That's interesting. You think it can go either way, in a pandemic, you know, you're either like tuned in to what was happening before and you modify the behavior or you just turn it up a notch and you just go I'm leaning into this and I'm just it's interesting because it was like looking at statistics for pandemics in the in the US and the domestic abuse goes up drinking goes up. And I think it's interesting that we have places like House Of Yes, that can give you a break from everything to that you can still have fun and you can like still have a little bit of alcohol, but you might not have to go like all the way.
Kae Burke 14:48
Yeah.
Yulia Laricheva 14:48
So it's a way for people to get out of the house too because everybody feels trapped.
Kae Burke 14:52
I think that's it. I think people appreciate a night out so much more because they know what life is like without it too.
Yulia Laricheva 14:58
Yeah, and it's special. You're like okay, I'm gonna go out and like, it's a lot harder to make it out the door these days. So you become a little bit more mindful about your time and your flow and your energy. You know, I was thinking also about, Yes Etc, which is your agency that you opened up during a pandemic? What was it like to open an agency during a pandemic?
Kae Burke 15:16
It was great, because I had time to open it. And it's called Yes Etc. And it's our creative experiential agency. So a lot of it was just inspired by the creations work and ideas that we've already been doing for ourselves as a brand and also just tons of these partnerships and collaborations with brands like Hennessy, Virgin Voyages, OKCupid, Perrier, we've done these really cool creative arts activation, customized specific parties that I felt like, really expanded what we could do from an experience perspective. And yeah, I was just like, wow, this is what agencies do. Like we should get paid like an agency, we should do more this more this work, because it's, it's honestly fun, I really taking the essential DNA of House of Yes. And the magic we create and seeing how it plays in different spaces, or different partners, or even in different countries, we've been really lucky to do a couple of pop-ups in 2019, we were in Sydney, Australia, we were starting to plan something in China of all places, which got shut down. But it was Yeah, part of the Yes Etc. It is really to see Etc. It's the extra, it's the expansiveness of, of what has House Of Yes is capable of.
Yulia Laricheva 16:34
Yeah, I remember seeing the Virgin Voyager, the voyage ship in the harbor when it was there. And I was like, That looks amazing. I want to be on it. And then I saw that you were doing work with it. And I was like, whatever it is, it's gonna be amazing. Because it's awesome. Yes. And it's virgin. And those are to like, amazing brands. And it's exciting. And that seems like just such a natural progression, right? Because you're already putting on events, you're already doing production. And you're already creative. So it's just a bigger extension of the work that you're doing. And you have your own space, which a lot of ad agencies don't have.
Kae Burke 17:04
Right, exactly. That's that is like we're our own kind of like Hospitality Group, nightlife legacy space that also is able to pop up and play with other stuff and make it cool and make it more heartfelt and heart centered.
Yulia Laricheva 17:17
Totally. And I was gonna ask you, where do you find creative inspiration you like just seem to be like a magician, like pulling things out of the box? And like, how do they do it? They have like multiple events, like, multiple times a week, on same day, over and over again. But like, how do you find a creative inspiration? How do you like keep going? It's how do you keep the engines turning .
Kae Burke 17:39
Here's the thing, is that you just like a balanced diet, there's no one space that you find or feed your inspiration. So honestly, I would say like other artists, other humans conversations collaborations, like I just think that's one of the gifts of socializing with really intentional collaborative way, like even just being chatting with somebody backstage, and you're just clicking mentally. And you're playing this great idea of ping-pong back and forth and your ideas. When you kind of have like a yes and improv, brainstorm moment with somebody, even if it's spontaneous, right? It's not like you schedule that. Let's have a good idea meeting. We do that too. But let's just say that my inspiration can come from a really spontaneous conversation with a really creative friend, artists collaborator, or a stranger, even at a dance party it or just like, that just sparks a part of your brain. And that's when the concepts and conversation realm but visually, honestly, like, I do find inspiration on Instagram, I'm sorry, I just do visually, I see some really freshed that I'm like, Wow, that's beautiful or weird, or funny. And so now I'm just kind of like collecting and saving stuff that resonates with me, or I'm, like, intriguing for whatever reason, whether it's a flyer or a meme, so. So I do, I do find inspiration there. But, you know, Bushwick and Brooklyn is inspiring. New York City's inspiring. Just go take a walk, and you'll find some inspiration if you're tapped in. Yeah. Pretty ripe with inspiration.
Yulia Laricheva 19:16
Yeah, it's almost like, you can go out any night and find something like it's just there's, there's a serendipity to New York and Brooklyn. And it's like on a given night, you can be anywhere like, you can have the most amazing time I remember once we went out with a bunch of friends, this was in the city and we try to go find a party, and I can't remember whose party it was. But it was like somewhere in Chelsea anyway, we ended up at a different we'd knocked on the wrong door and there was a couple and they were getting ready to go out and they were like, come on, and here's a bottle. She goes What's Next we'll go to your party with you. And we're like, this is totally random. These are like just a bunch of strangers like accommodating us. Like normally they would have been like, hey, six people go away, but they were like, Oh, cool. Come on it like hospitality inclusiveness and the party. be rolled on. That's like the beauty of New York that you meet like minded people and you travel and then you're like, This was somewhere I haven't been. And it's —
Kae Burke 20:07
I totally feel that New Yorkers have this amazing way of either being like, fuck off and putting up the walls, but really, it's actually quite inclusive and kind of like, alright, I really do find traveling and seeing seeing other places being another thing and other people's parties I find extremely inspiring. You just be like, wow, like, that's how their door works. So that's how their ticketing felt. This is how my experience out of bar, that's not how to be asked is, is really inspiring from as a as an experienced designer to a special especially minded artist, it's, it's cool. It's really cool to see, to just experience, experience other spaces and see what I love and like and dislike and bring it back to the homeland.
Yulia Laricheva 20:53
Especially going overseas to what I love is going to different places overseas and going to different parties, because that's like, every place has a different culture and a different world. And you're like I never even thought about it this way. Oh my gosh, if you go to a party in Mexico, it's a little different than going to a party in China or the window party in Abu Dhabi like is just, like people find places to party and their own culture to like to have fun. Yeah, in 2016, you raised funds through Kickstarter. And I was going to ask you, what is your advice for people who are building a creative business, right, like Kickstarter is just a part of the equation?
Kae Burke 21:26
Yeah, absolutely. The the situation that inspired the Kickstarter was really that we had our first the first house of yes, we started in 2007, for down in 2008. And then we had the second house to be asked, which was a warehouse that we renovated and self funded that we had for five years. And we lost that space, five years of running an underground illegal Circus School slash theater slash dance clubs slash after hours spot, slash living situation. So that was has to be number two. And so when we lost that, and decided that it was worth it, to find a house of Yes, has to be three, it was when we finally had partners, business partners, and the space locked in that it was time to launch the Kickstarter. So I just want to be super clear about the story and annoying that when something felt really real. And that there was a need for that ask us when we launched that Kickstarter. So yeah, it was really cool.
Yulia Laricheva 22:30
So you did a Kickstarter, you know, the Kickstarter was like a PR campaign to it. And I think that's a really good thing for people to know, like, you have to have an idea first, and it has to be like, verified, it has to be like, a minimal viable product. And then you do all the fundraising for it. And then you like do a PR campaign for it. So it's, this was like a planned idea. And you put a lot of thought into it.
Kae Burke 22:52
Yeah. Yeah, I think people call like a proof of concept where when you're inspiring people through Kickstarter or fundraising campaign, it's really it's just really powerful. If you if you're like, Yo, I've done, the thing has been done. And now we want to do more of the awesome thing that we did. And here's how you can help us continue. I think it's really tricky. It's hard. It's hard to start from scratch. And people do it. People can do with success, but I do I totally hear you on the beauty of the PR the awareness. Really using a fundraiser is also a way to introduce people to your project, get them excited about about the future of your projects, and how they can participate beyond just giving you money. Like it's really Yes, the money is helpful. It is seed funding, it is tremendous. It is magic, but there's so much value beyond the dollar that comes from fundraising where you build a community like you actually build, we had a we almost had, like, we had fans of the next house of Yes, before, before the third one open, we'd already brought us a lot of a lot of wonderful humans, and like our whole business is based on human connection. So the more humans we're connecting with, the better a lot of our projects and parties are right.
Yulia Laricheva 24:05
And we kept on thinking because you were talking about co-creating where you find your inspiration. And this kind of ties into it as well. Like you've built such a great community. It sounds like the way you build community is in person. Obviously you throw events but like you've grown House Of Yes through literally getting out there every night. Now a lot of people do it differently. A lot of people do it through digital marketing or something else. And yours is like so visceral and people just gravitate like moths to a flame to it because it's a physical space. Do you have any advice for people who want to build a community?
Kae Burke 24:38
Yeah, I would actually say that we have people that love has to be so I've never been there. They live far away and they find joy, connection, creativity through following us on Instagram and even Tik Tok even Facebook. We're still on Facebook a bit but really there is there's some to be said for the beauty of social media, obviously and like how we can really engage in conversations that is collaborative, like a lot of our values being creativity, collaborative, collaborative, co creating and community. Like cool, like those things are all possible. But even in the digital space to an extent, of course we love in real life in real life experiences are paramount and fabulous and what we love to do, but yeah, advice for people building communities just don't be shy, but just get weird and make friends connect with people take a risk, putting a little scary to put yourself out there. And I do. I personally can be a bit shy, or feel shy and work through that shyness, just to sometimes connect with others and ask for what you need. And also, I'd say the biggest advice I can give that worked amazingly, for us has been extremely generous with any resource you have, whether that resources, time, money, advice, expertise, if you can, whatever you can do to be generous is typically how we as humans build our social connections or tribal connections. It's through giving. It's really through giving. And the more you give, the more he gets. I mean, it's classic, but it's really important to remember, that's where actual community comes from. That's beyond audience engagement. I'm talking about like real community that gives a fuck.
Yulia Laricheva 26:17
Yeah, yeah, like real people. Instead of 20 million people were like, the don't care. It's so interesting. I was gonna ask you, when you're not creating events, what do you love to do for fun? You just had a vacay, right?
Kae Burke 26:31
Yeah, I now love surfing. I surfed windsurfing in Mexico for the first time ever. Nailed it, sent it crushed it love it. I'm like, Oh, I gotta go again. So that was that was a shocker. I never thought I'd surf ever definitely was not on my radar of things to do so. So fun, really, is that but as far as what am I Brooklyn in New York, I really just love I love working out whether it's with people, typically with people, I love rock climbing. So anything that's like a bit active and gets my brain away from the screen is really like deeply, deeply enjoyable. And I love going to shows I like any sort of show I went to this one of this like comedy burlesque show and place called wonder Ville, in Broadway and in Bushwick. And it was kind of like, DIY and the most charming way and it was still still inspiring. It doesn't have to be Broadway Manhattan, a big fancy show. Although I love a big spectacle. I love an over produced over over budget and spectacle. As much as I love a grimy DIY community driven, self produced show. So we have just seen live entertainment itself brings me a lot of joy. So that's what I like to do.
Yulia Laricheva 27:48
That sounds fun. Yeah, I always wonder if like, you guys are gonna, if I hate using the word you guys, but I say if y'all ever make it out to Las Vegas, I can see how severe is like doing some kind of a residency or just like, just taking up space in Vegas, because it's so grand.
Kae Burke 28:04
Yeah, but we've had talks and offers, even in 2019, before before the world got super weird. But I felt that too, you know, I just think that the more we can spread joy and change people's lives, the better. They just want to do with intention. That's not just growth, growth for growth's sake, but really understand, like, Where can we be the most impactful, purposeful and useful? And yeah, there's a couple there's a couple things we have done, Vegas, we've done Life is beautiful, one of our favorite festivals, so don't pop ups in Vegas. It's interesting to daydream about a permanent residency in Vegas. I like more like there's some other cities that I feel like I would, yeah, there's other cities I vibe with. I'm like, yeah, it's not about like my other spots.
Yulia Laricheva 28:47
Los Angeles has no places to dance. When I lived in LA, I was like, I just want to go dancing. There's just like, it doesn't exist. There's no dance culture. This was like I left on like, 2016. But maybe it's changed, but it's a place where you don't dance and it's everybody is so pent up inside. And everybody's so uptight. And they just need to dance. They need dancer. Yeah, there's no place there. Yeah, it's there's no good pizza, and there's no dancing and I'm like, Brooklyn has to come over here. There needs to be a Brooklyn. Like Silverlake isn’t cutting it.
Kae Burke 29:16
Like there's an idea is that there's an idea of hey, there's like a Pizza Parlor Dance Party, which is called Pizza Party all the time. That'd be great.
Yulia Laricheva 29:24
Yeah. Yeah, it's so hard to find good pizza and dancing and like just give me pizza and dancing and like I'll be so happy. I was gonna ask you my last question, which is what's your dream is an adult?
Kae Burke 29:37
Oh, my dream is as an adult is just to grow more, surf more, joy. Be happy. There's not much there's not much I truly need or want more than that.
Yulia Laricheva 29:53
Well, that's a beautiful dream and it sounds like you're living it.
Kae Burke 29:56
Yeah, getting just getting there just finding more love more peace from myself and others. You know, there's a lot of ways to go about it. But that's in a nutshell. Wasn't my dream, my my dreams, goals and ambitions.
Yulia Laricheva 30:08
They're beautiful. They're beautiful. Kay, thank you so much for being on the show. And I really want people to come check out the House Of Yes and Bushwick, which is super fun. And maybe we'll speak like in a year or two, like if you're doing something else. It'll be fun to have you on the show. And then just find out what you guys are up to. And then see where the show goes.
Kae Burke 30:27
Yeah, right. It's a ride.
Yulia Laricheva 30:28
Thank you so much again.
Kae Burke 30:30
Oh, my God. Thank you.
Yulia Laricheva 30:31
It's a ride. It's a ride.
Kae Burke 30:32
It’s a ride. So get on the ride.
Yulia Laricheva 30:35
Yes, it's definitely right. So thank you so much for making the time. Maybe I'll see you at the next event with my baby. When she was like old enough to dance. She just started dancing. I can't wait to like start bringing her out eventually.
Kae Burke 30:45
Oh, yes. Awesome.
Yulia Laricheva 30:47
Thanks so much.
Kae Burke 30:48
Absolutely.
Yulia Laricheva 30:53
Thanks for tuning into the show. I hope you enjoyed it. Please share on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Dream Nation Love. It's not Dream Nation Podcast. It's Dream Nation Love because I think my single mission in life is to teach people how to love a little bit more. And together we can save the world. So it's Dream Nation Love, share it with your friends, have a great day and go out and make the world a better place.
65 episodes
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![](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57e04445bebafb15ccb60ab6/7263f643-f09e-4d0a-8245-9faacb53d7ea/Kae_Template.png?format=1000w)
Kae Burke is the Co-Founder of House Of Yes in Bushwick, Brooklyn. As well as the Creative Director of Yes Etc Creative Agency. HOY was recently named the #2 Best Thing To Do in the World by Time Out New York. The venue is internationally celebrated for fostering self-expression and nurturing emerging artists of all genres. Their events lead the way for developing safer spaces and consent culture.
On the show Kae talks about going to fashion school with Anya Sapozhnikova and how they created HOY. Kae also speaks about how the House Of Yes fosters an inclusive culture and how costumes and self-expression go hand-in-hand. As well as how the pandemic has changed the party landscape and we delve into the ways people have started to be more mindful of their consumption. Her new Creative Agency is called Yes Etc and we talk about what it was like to open an experiential agency during a pandemic and where she finds inspiration.
Transcript
Yulia Laricheva 00:06
Hey friends, welcome to another episode of dream nation love. I'm your host, Yulia. And I want to remind you to subscribe to my newsletter on Dream Nation Love on the Instagram page. So just go there and hit the link in the bio and find it. It has a lot of awesome little giveaways every month, like books and fun little information about women diversity and social impact that you are going to love. So please share it with a friend. Today on the show I interview the amazing Kay Burke, who is one of the co founders of House of Yes, along with Anya suborning COVID. But today on the show, I only speak with k has to be so super fun. If you haven't been to one of their events, then you're missing out. They have global events now. So you definitely have to go. Now, I bet you didn't know but how's to be us originally started out as a creative events face and also a circus Theatre in Williamsburg. And I've been in Williamsburg for over 16 years. And I do remember them opening up. So talk about like throwing a good party, right. K is also the creative director of Yes, etc. Creative. And on this podcast, we talk about how K designs inclusive experiences, how the pandemic has changed party culture, and what a person who throws parties for a living does for fun. You know, I was really, really curious. And he told me all about it. So enjoy the podcast and share it with a friend. Have a great day. Okay, welcome to the show. It is so exciting to have you here. Because we've been meaning to make this happen for a while. And you are here in front of me.
Kae Burke 01:44
Well, thank you. Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Yulia Laricheva 01:48
Thanks. I really enjoy the work that you do at the House Of Yes. And I really miss going to the House Of Yes, because I am a mom now. So I don't really have any more fun. So I live vicariously through people's posts.
Kae Burke 02:00
We have a lot of I have to say we have a lot of moms with moms and dads anxieties. There's totally a culture for party moms.
Yulia Laricheva 02:09
As yes, no, there is. But it's like right now she's like, almost 15 months with you have a sleep schedule. And it's a routine. I need a babysitter and all that stuff. But I digress. Back to the house of Yes. Which is doing so much stuff. And that's what I really wanted to talk to you about it. And I wanted to take it way back and and see how early this idea started. Or if it even started. It's such a small age. But when you were a kid, you probably had a dream. What was your dream as a kid?
Kae Burke 02:38
I don't remember. I feel like I wanted to be a dolphin, a mermaid, a unicorn, a dog. I got to those dreams got to come true. Because as a performance artist, dancer, professional, performance weirdo. I got I've definitely dressed up and performed as all those things. And now I also get to have other people dress up and perform as any kind of creature of imagination that they wish. So I think my dreams as a kid ended up coming true. Now that that you mentioned it.
Yulia Laricheva 03:15
I love that. Well, you went to art school. Right? You started this with Anya. Yes. And so you both started it. And you started this out of art school too, as I recall. And then I read a little bit about how agree right? Like you were like, doing all these things you were like, doing still on he was doing still it's all those different work. But what was the exact moment that has to be asked came to fruition that you're like, we must do this. This is going to be a business, right?
Kae Burke 03:40
Oh, yeah.
Yulia Laricheva 03:40
What was the transition from art kid to business person.
Kae Burke 03:44
I mean, that took it really took years. And it's interesting about the creative process itself and the creative process of House of Yes is it was quite organic. It was not a decision unnecessarily. It's a series of choices, that ended up creating a reality, and organically growing and evolving into what it is now. But it wasn't oh my god, we're gonna do this. And here's the business plan. And here's the strategy, not so clear, not so clear cut. It came from, you know, of course me and Anya meeting in high school in Rochester making art together. And sometimes that was music. Sometimes it was scavenger hunts. Sometimes it was sewing. And the sewing actually really sparked a lot of joy and expression and took us into fashion school. So we both ended up going to fit in New York City. And we were young. We moved here at 18. So in addition to going to fashion school, we were also making weird costumes out of trash and going to dance parties, you know, making friends it was we only really knew each other in New York. We didn't have a huge community whatsoever. So it was really going to these dance parties and dressing up like maniac weirdos that started connecting us to these different scenes and serve roles within the city. So once that starts to evolve, we just ended up playing with these different mediums, sculpture and installation grew out of that. Doing more performance art, stilt walking grew out of our costume design and wanting to just be extravagant creatures of the night. And so participating in these parties is what really sparked a lot of choices and therefore opportunities that self propelled into really needing more space when you're creating on such a multifaceted multi dimensional multi genre level. You know, we're making more than just costumes or you know, really started to need more space and especially in New York being a very expensive city even in Brooklyn even what is this I'm talking about? It was still we didn't really come from money broke broke as artists and it was always if you wanted space to create it typically meant you would be in a live work situation. A live work loft because just the way that the city and the real estate works a lot of times those places were illegal.
Yulia Laricheva 06:10
Rubulad I think was a bunch of artists paying their rent through by throwing parties every month in the giant loft.
Kae Burke 06:16
Yeah and Rubulad was some of the first parties me and Anya on your went to that really sparked our community building. Even before we went to Burning Man, you know, on people can sense a Burning Man DNA within House Of Yes, like, yeah, there's Burning Man. But there's also realized and rebuild came from predecessors before that, that were inspired by, you know, spaces in maybe the 60s, 70s, and 80s You know, so there's a there's really like a lineage and legacy to New York underground party culture, performance art culture, and really celebration spaces so it sounds like an honor to still be representing that and hopefully inspiring people for the future who come maybe House Of Yes is their first weird party zone and they make some other expression of their own space. Basically the first House Of Yes. Anya was offered this loft from a friend of ours will attendee who threw parties but danger parties in warehouses back before Bushwick was yeah and of course they were like illegal warehouse raves but really artfully done and really cool. So yeah, this launch became available like on you sign the lease gutted it decorated it and that was the first House Of Yes, I moved in a couple months later and we just we just wrapped it with make art and have some parties do some circus tricks. Have some sewing parties it was rad.
Yulia Laricheva 06:16
Yeah cuz you do aerial right? You still do aerial or you partake in it.
Kae Burke 07:33
You know, I really I used to perform a lot Anya is still performing aerial one of the best aerialists, I'd say in the world and amazing doubles aerialist and yeah, I love aerial for the strength, the confidence the workout, the muscle tone, took me a while to understand from performing aerial for quite a long time. I'm just like, damn, I'm more of a clown. I'm a character actor. I'm a clown. I just, that's my happy zone. And I love working out in aerial, it's always really stressed me out to perform it. So I really like I love to grunt I love to grunt and sweat and climb and feel of your muscles. I absolutely adore that. But when it comes down to being in the spotlight, I'm much more comfortable and expressive on a microphone, or making a total fool of myself is definitely more my joy space.
Yulia Laricheva 08:29
Yeah, I'm used to I started going to Brooklyn, I think in ‘99/98, ‘99. And then I moved to New York in 2004. But I remember there was a space where the Apple Store is now and they had this huge area loft, and they had kung fu in there for a while. But they were teaching aerial classes for a while. So anytime anybody was doing aerial, he just popped in there. And it was like such a cool off. But now everything is Equinox and Apple and it's just it's not the creative space where it was before it just morphed over time.
Kae Burke 08:59
Yeah.
Yulia Laricheva 08:59
My thing is the House Of Yes, was very inclusive. And it's interesting how the culture has changed. And obviously, you've added to that club culture changing. And I was going to ask you, what is your recipe for fostering that inclusive temple of self-expression?
Kae Burke 09:14
How's the House Of Yes is intrinsically inclusive, because our creative culture has been inclusive art and collaboration has been inclusive. That was a part of our we were inclusive before it was intentional before it was a cultural buzzword. And it's actually been a very interesting cultural challenge to maintain the inclusivity while protecting and curating the vibe. There have been times when we've experienced like, wow, there's way too many bros way too many type, a type of person that isn't really tuned in or aligned with some of our values or some of our ways that we dictate that a good time is what we set out to be and so we've had to adjust one point we end up doing costumes mandatory. It's not mandatory any longer. But for while we're like, oh, if we want our parties to be the vibe that we are putting out there that are our highest self, this template expression that we set out to be, then our favorite parties are the ones where everybody's wearing costumes. So they know who hates wearing costumes is angry, insecure, homophobic, transphobic, there's something about wearing costumes that feels like too feminine for certain kind of person, especially especially a male identified person. So that became a good idea for a little bit. And then eventually, that became too exclusive because it wasn't accessible, like wearing a costume to a party is sometimes not accessible to certain people. And it actually wasn't being as as inclusive as we intended. So it has been, I would say, it's been an experiment. And it's the journey that we are still on the path of just getting walking the line between inclusivity and creative curation of the audience.
Yulia Laricheva 10:56
For a while you had like a costume rental car outside too, that if you didn't have a costume, you could rent it, which was so fabulous, because sometimes you're like, you just want to mix up your costume to if you're going yeah, if you can afford it. That's another question of who can afford to dress up? And that's a bigger discussion.
Kae Burke 11:11
Yeah, yeah, it was pretty cheap to like our standards, but different people have different different standards of what they find affordable, too. So we've got to be aware of that.
Yulia Laricheva 11:19
And it's so important to have a space where like women, and LGBTQ people can just feel safe. Yeah, like where you can just really be safe. We go, I'm not I'm gonna actually have a good time tonight. It's not going to be crazy.
Kae Burke 11:19
Yeah, we can do it. Of course, we're dealing with human beings who are unpredictable, and so many levels. So the best we can ever do is create a space that is safer. And as safe as possible. There's, we always say that there's really no such thing as a safe space. Unfortunately, this wild world of chaos and, and all possibilities being possible. It's like, we can at least make it as safe as possible.
Yulia Laricheva 11:54
That's interesting. You talked about costumes, do you think costumes make people like, open up and be their true selves, or like they put on personas with it, I just thought of that. I was like, like, what makes people friendlier when they put on costumes like it just like customs just improve everything.
Kae Burke 12:11
It really does. Different people, even myself, you can have a different, different experience, even in the same costume. So let's say one night really is like a full persona and it influences how you act behave or experienced your night. And then other nights, you might just feel like hot and it feels more like you. It depends on what journey you choose to take with that particular look. I just love, I love people dressing up because it's really them expressing themselves. And I feel like a different persona or an alter ego and a different look. And a different costume is an expression of the self. The self has many ways of expressing, like our ego, or our personality that we've assigned to ourselves is not it's not as clear cut as being one flavor, or one one behavior.
Yulia Laricheva 12:55
Totally. And I was gonna ask you like how has the pandemic changed the party landscape in NYC and globally? I see the house of yes is doing parties and a lot of different places like Aspen and stuff. But how has the pandemic changed the party landscape has been interesting, I feel people have a deeper appreciation for parties and party people.
Kae Burke 13:14
People are definitely more self-aware, I've experienced, there's this interesting thing where people are, to my knowledge really consuming last, like less substances are necessary. A lot of people really have to check themselves before they wreck themselves when depends on it. And they're like, oh my god, like what are these habits and substances and coping mechanisms that we've almost not been aware of until the party stopped? You know, like, oh, wow, like whether substance use continued? Well, even without the rave, a lot of people are being much kinder to their bodies much kinder to themselves, but just practicing a lot more wellness has come into the conversation. A lot of people have cut down their alcohol, of course, people are still drinking and there's lines of the bars and people still like alcohol, I can just speak to speak to more. My friend group and myself included, I've cut back a lot compared to what I was consuming and doing in 2019. Oh my goodness. How can I keep up with that? That's crazy. And so I've just yeah, I've just observed a lot of people being partying and celebrating in a more mindful way.
Yulia Laricheva 14:18
That's interesting. You think it can go either way, in a pandemic, you know, you're either like tuned in to what was happening before and you modify the behavior or you just turn it up a notch and you just go I'm leaning into this and I'm just it's interesting because it was like looking at statistics for pandemics in the in the US and the domestic abuse goes up drinking goes up. And I think it's interesting that we have places like House Of Yes, that can give you a break from everything to that you can still have fun and you can like still have a little bit of alcohol, but you might not have to go like all the way.
Kae Burke 14:48
Yeah.
Yulia Laricheva 14:48
So it's a way for people to get out of the house too because everybody feels trapped.
Kae Burke 14:52
I think that's it. I think people appreciate a night out so much more because they know what life is like without it too.
Yulia Laricheva 14:58
Yeah, and it's special. You're like okay, I'm gonna go out and like, it's a lot harder to make it out the door these days. So you become a little bit more mindful about your time and your flow and your energy. You know, I was thinking also about, Yes Etc, which is your agency that you opened up during a pandemic? What was it like to open an agency during a pandemic?
Kae Burke 15:16
It was great, because I had time to open it. And it's called Yes Etc. And it's our creative experiential agency. So a lot of it was just inspired by the creations work and ideas that we've already been doing for ourselves as a brand and also just tons of these partnerships and collaborations with brands like Hennessy, Virgin Voyages, OKCupid, Perrier, we've done these really cool creative arts activation, customized specific parties that I felt like, really expanded what we could do from an experience perspective. And yeah, I was just like, wow, this is what agencies do. Like we should get paid like an agency, we should do more this more this work, because it's, it's honestly fun, I really taking the essential DNA of House of Yes. And the magic we create and seeing how it plays in different spaces, or different partners, or even in different countries, we've been really lucky to do a couple of pop-ups in 2019, we were in Sydney, Australia, we were starting to plan something in China of all places, which got shut down. But it was Yeah, part of the Yes Etc. It is really to see Etc. It's the extra, it's the expansiveness of, of what has House Of Yes is capable of.
Yulia Laricheva 16:34
Yeah, I remember seeing the Virgin Voyager, the voyage ship in the harbor when it was there. And I was like, That looks amazing. I want to be on it. And then I saw that you were doing work with it. And I was like, whatever it is, it's gonna be amazing. Because it's awesome. Yes. And it's virgin. And those are to like, amazing brands. And it's exciting. And that seems like just such a natural progression, right? Because you're already putting on events, you're already doing production. And you're already creative. So it's just a bigger extension of the work that you're doing. And you have your own space, which a lot of ad agencies don't have.
Kae Burke 17:04
Right, exactly. That's that is like we're our own kind of like Hospitality Group, nightlife legacy space that also is able to pop up and play with other stuff and make it cool and make it more heartfelt and heart centered.
Yulia Laricheva 17:17
Totally. And I was gonna ask you, where do you find creative inspiration you like just seem to be like a magician, like pulling things out of the box? And like, how do they do it? They have like multiple events, like, multiple times a week, on same day, over and over again. But like, how do you find a creative inspiration? How do you like keep going? It's how do you keep the engines turning .
Kae Burke 17:39
Here's the thing, is that you just like a balanced diet, there's no one space that you find or feed your inspiration. So honestly, I would say like other artists, other humans conversations collaborations, like I just think that's one of the gifts of socializing with really intentional collaborative way, like even just being chatting with somebody backstage, and you're just clicking mentally. And you're playing this great idea of ping-pong back and forth and your ideas. When you kind of have like a yes and improv, brainstorm moment with somebody, even if it's spontaneous, right? It's not like you schedule that. Let's have a good idea meeting. We do that too. But let's just say that my inspiration can come from a really spontaneous conversation with a really creative friend, artists collaborator, or a stranger, even at a dance party it or just like, that just sparks a part of your brain. And that's when the concepts and conversation realm but visually, honestly, like, I do find inspiration on Instagram, I'm sorry, I just do visually, I see some really freshed that I'm like, Wow, that's beautiful or weird, or funny. And so now I'm just kind of like collecting and saving stuff that resonates with me, or I'm, like, intriguing for whatever reason, whether it's a flyer or a meme, so. So I do, I do find inspiration there. But, you know, Bushwick and Brooklyn is inspiring. New York City's inspiring. Just go take a walk, and you'll find some inspiration if you're tapped in. Yeah. Pretty ripe with inspiration.
Yulia Laricheva 19:16
Yeah, it's almost like, you can go out any night and find something like it's just there's, there's a serendipity to New York and Brooklyn. And it's like on a given night, you can be anywhere like, you can have the most amazing time I remember once we went out with a bunch of friends, this was in the city and we try to go find a party, and I can't remember whose party it was. But it was like somewhere in Chelsea anyway, we ended up at a different we'd knocked on the wrong door and there was a couple and they were getting ready to go out and they were like, come on, and here's a bottle. She goes What's Next we'll go to your party with you. And we're like, this is totally random. These are like just a bunch of strangers like accommodating us. Like normally they would have been like, hey, six people go away, but they were like, Oh, cool. Come on it like hospitality inclusiveness and the party. be rolled on. That's like the beauty of New York that you meet like minded people and you travel and then you're like, This was somewhere I haven't been. And it's —
Kae Burke 20:07
I totally feel that New Yorkers have this amazing way of either being like, fuck off and putting up the walls, but really, it's actually quite inclusive and kind of like, alright, I really do find traveling and seeing seeing other places being another thing and other people's parties I find extremely inspiring. You just be like, wow, like, that's how their door works. So that's how their ticketing felt. This is how my experience out of bar, that's not how to be asked is, is really inspiring from as a as an experienced designer to a special especially minded artist, it's, it's cool. It's really cool to see, to just experience, experience other spaces and see what I love and like and dislike and bring it back to the homeland.
Yulia Laricheva 20:53
Especially going overseas to what I love is going to different places overseas and going to different parties, because that's like, every place has a different culture and a different world. And you're like I never even thought about it this way. Oh my gosh, if you go to a party in Mexico, it's a little different than going to a party in China or the window party in Abu Dhabi like is just, like people find places to party and their own culture to like to have fun. Yeah, in 2016, you raised funds through Kickstarter. And I was going to ask you, what is your advice for people who are building a creative business, right, like Kickstarter is just a part of the equation?
Kae Burke 21:26
Yeah, absolutely. The the situation that inspired the Kickstarter was really that we had our first the first house of yes, we started in 2007, for down in 2008. And then we had the second house to be asked, which was a warehouse that we renovated and self funded that we had for five years. And we lost that space, five years of running an underground illegal Circus School slash theater slash dance clubs slash after hours spot, slash living situation. So that was has to be number two. And so when we lost that, and decided that it was worth it, to find a house of Yes, has to be three, it was when we finally had partners, business partners, and the space locked in that it was time to launch the Kickstarter. So I just want to be super clear about the story and annoying that when something felt really real. And that there was a need for that ask us when we launched that Kickstarter. So yeah, it was really cool.
Yulia Laricheva 22:30
So you did a Kickstarter, you know, the Kickstarter was like a PR campaign to it. And I think that's a really good thing for people to know, like, you have to have an idea first, and it has to be like, verified, it has to be like, a minimal viable product. And then you do all the fundraising for it. And then you like do a PR campaign for it. So it's, this was like a planned idea. And you put a lot of thought into it.
Kae Burke 22:52
Yeah. Yeah, I think people call like a proof of concept where when you're inspiring people through Kickstarter or fundraising campaign, it's really it's just really powerful. If you if you're like, Yo, I've done, the thing has been done. And now we want to do more of the awesome thing that we did. And here's how you can help us continue. I think it's really tricky. It's hard. It's hard to start from scratch. And people do it. People can do with success, but I do I totally hear you on the beauty of the PR the awareness. Really using a fundraiser is also a way to introduce people to your project, get them excited about about the future of your projects, and how they can participate beyond just giving you money. Like it's really Yes, the money is helpful. It is seed funding, it is tremendous. It is magic, but there's so much value beyond the dollar that comes from fundraising where you build a community like you actually build, we had a we almost had, like, we had fans of the next house of Yes, before, before the third one open, we'd already brought us a lot of a lot of wonderful humans, and like our whole business is based on human connection. So the more humans we're connecting with, the better a lot of our projects and parties are right.
Yulia Laricheva 24:05
And we kept on thinking because you were talking about co-creating where you find your inspiration. And this kind of ties into it as well. Like you've built such a great community. It sounds like the way you build community is in person. Obviously you throw events but like you've grown House Of Yes through literally getting out there every night. Now a lot of people do it differently. A lot of people do it through digital marketing or something else. And yours is like so visceral and people just gravitate like moths to a flame to it because it's a physical space. Do you have any advice for people who want to build a community?
Kae Burke 24:38
Yeah, I would actually say that we have people that love has to be so I've never been there. They live far away and they find joy, connection, creativity through following us on Instagram and even Tik Tok even Facebook. We're still on Facebook a bit but really there is there's some to be said for the beauty of social media, obviously and like how we can really engage in conversations that is collaborative, like a lot of our values being creativity, collaborative, collaborative, co creating and community. Like cool, like those things are all possible. But even in the digital space to an extent, of course we love in real life in real life experiences are paramount and fabulous and what we love to do, but yeah, advice for people building communities just don't be shy, but just get weird and make friends connect with people take a risk, putting a little scary to put yourself out there. And I do. I personally can be a bit shy, or feel shy and work through that shyness, just to sometimes connect with others and ask for what you need. And also, I'd say the biggest advice I can give that worked amazingly, for us has been extremely generous with any resource you have, whether that resources, time, money, advice, expertise, if you can, whatever you can do to be generous is typically how we as humans build our social connections or tribal connections. It's through giving. It's really through giving. And the more you give, the more he gets. I mean, it's classic, but it's really important to remember, that's where actual community comes from. That's beyond audience engagement. I'm talking about like real community that gives a fuck.
Yulia Laricheva 26:17
Yeah, yeah, like real people. Instead of 20 million people were like, the don't care. It's so interesting. I was gonna ask you, when you're not creating events, what do you love to do for fun? You just had a vacay, right?
Kae Burke 26:31
Yeah, I now love surfing. I surfed windsurfing in Mexico for the first time ever. Nailed it, sent it crushed it love it. I'm like, Oh, I gotta go again. So that was that was a shocker. I never thought I'd surf ever definitely was not on my radar of things to do so. So fun, really, is that but as far as what am I Brooklyn in New York, I really just love I love working out whether it's with people, typically with people, I love rock climbing. So anything that's like a bit active and gets my brain away from the screen is really like deeply, deeply enjoyable. And I love going to shows I like any sort of show I went to this one of this like comedy burlesque show and place called wonder Ville, in Broadway and in Bushwick. And it was kind of like, DIY and the most charming way and it was still still inspiring. It doesn't have to be Broadway Manhattan, a big fancy show. Although I love a big spectacle. I love an over produced over over budget and spectacle. As much as I love a grimy DIY community driven, self produced show. So we have just seen live entertainment itself brings me a lot of joy. So that's what I like to do.
Yulia Laricheva 27:48
That sounds fun. Yeah, I always wonder if like, you guys are gonna, if I hate using the word you guys, but I say if y'all ever make it out to Las Vegas, I can see how severe is like doing some kind of a residency or just like, just taking up space in Vegas, because it's so grand.
Kae Burke 28:04
Yeah, but we've had talks and offers, even in 2019, before before the world got super weird. But I felt that too, you know, I just think that the more we can spread joy and change people's lives, the better. They just want to do with intention. That's not just growth, growth for growth's sake, but really understand, like, Where can we be the most impactful, purposeful and useful? And yeah, there's a couple there's a couple things we have done, Vegas, we've done Life is beautiful, one of our favorite festivals, so don't pop ups in Vegas. It's interesting to daydream about a permanent residency in Vegas. I like more like there's some other cities that I feel like I would, yeah, there's other cities I vibe with. I'm like, yeah, it's not about like my other spots.
Yulia Laricheva 28:47
Los Angeles has no places to dance. When I lived in LA, I was like, I just want to go dancing. There's just like, it doesn't exist. There's no dance culture. This was like I left on like, 2016. But maybe it's changed, but it's a place where you don't dance and it's everybody is so pent up inside. And everybody's so uptight. And they just need to dance. They need dancer. Yeah, there's no place there. Yeah, it's there's no good pizza, and there's no dancing and I'm like, Brooklyn has to come over here. There needs to be a Brooklyn. Like Silverlake isn’t cutting it.
Kae Burke 29:16
Like there's an idea is that there's an idea of hey, there's like a Pizza Parlor Dance Party, which is called Pizza Party all the time. That'd be great.
Yulia Laricheva 29:24
Yeah. Yeah, it's so hard to find good pizza and dancing and like just give me pizza and dancing and like I'll be so happy. I was gonna ask you my last question, which is what's your dream is an adult?
Kae Burke 29:37
Oh, my dream is as an adult is just to grow more, surf more, joy. Be happy. There's not much there's not much I truly need or want more than that.
Yulia Laricheva 29:53
Well, that's a beautiful dream and it sounds like you're living it.
Kae Burke 29:56
Yeah, getting just getting there just finding more love more peace from myself and others. You know, there's a lot of ways to go about it. But that's in a nutshell. Wasn't my dream, my my dreams, goals and ambitions.
Yulia Laricheva 30:08
They're beautiful. They're beautiful. Kay, thank you so much for being on the show. And I really want people to come check out the House Of Yes and Bushwick, which is super fun. And maybe we'll speak like in a year or two, like if you're doing something else. It'll be fun to have you on the show. And then just find out what you guys are up to. And then see where the show goes.
Kae Burke 30:27
Yeah, right. It's a ride.
Yulia Laricheva 30:28
Thank you so much again.
Kae Burke 30:30
Oh, my God. Thank you.
Yulia Laricheva 30:31
It's a ride. It's a ride.
Kae Burke 30:32
It’s a ride. So get on the ride.
Yulia Laricheva 30:35
Yes, it's definitely right. So thank you so much for making the time. Maybe I'll see you at the next event with my baby. When she was like old enough to dance. She just started dancing. I can't wait to like start bringing her out eventually.
Kae Burke 30:45
Oh, yes. Awesome.
Yulia Laricheva 30:47
Thanks so much.
Kae Burke 30:48
Absolutely.
Yulia Laricheva 30:53
Thanks for tuning into the show. I hope you enjoyed it. Please share on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Dream Nation Love. It's not Dream Nation Podcast. It's Dream Nation Love because I think my single mission in life is to teach people how to love a little bit more. And together we can save the world. So it's Dream Nation Love, share it with your friends, have a great day and go out and make the world a better place.
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